Passbook Adds More Big Names To Its Roster As Starbucks Joins The Club

Apple has speared another couple of high-profile names for its Passbook idea. Starbucks now includes the system on its free app, meaning that customers can buy food and store gift cards on their phones. And McDonalds' GoMacDo app is available in France as a testing ground for the service, although it's not strictly new, having been around since 2009, and only being limited to around 50 of the hamburger chain's outlets in France.

Two other companies have upgraded their apps to include Passbook - ticket agency Eventbrite has designed special tickets for its users and AirBnB, although the latter's Passbook support only started working an hour or so ago.

My writing career has taken me all round the houses over the past decade and a half--from grumpy teens and hungover rock bands in the UK, where I was born, via celebrity interviews, health, tech and f…